This new series of posts will explore what I call “typeface mechanics”, the behind-the-scenes work that makes typefaces visually functional. It is what placates the stubborn oddities of human perception, helps or hinders the user, and informs long-standing conventions of design.

The first part is about vertical and horizontal position of type. Logically you’d think all the letters would line up perfectly though unfortunately our brains don’t work that way. Take a read and see for yourself.

Sufjan Stevens has a new album called Carrie & Lowell which comes out March 30/31. Now he’s released a new single called “No Shade in the Shadow of the Cross” which I’d describe as a return to the old Sufjan. More traditional in sound, it combines Sufjan’s voice with a steady plucking guitar and the slightest trace of river flowing in the background. It doesn’t get more calm and lovely than this.

I enjoyed this post over on Medium by Matt Cooper who writes about his experience over the last 18 months designing line based icons. For a while there everyone was in a tizzy over whether or not line icons were legible or not though that fervor seems to have died down. Now we’re starting to see some well-executed icons in this style like the one’s Matt has made, which to me show the validity of line based icons.

The A’ Design Award & Competition is the world’s leading international annual juried competition for design. The A’ Design Accolades are organized in a wide range of creative fields to highlight the very best designers from all countries in all disciplines. Entries to the competition are peer-reviewed and anonymously judged by an influential jury panel of experienced academics, prominent press members and established professionals.

Categories include ‘Arts, Crafts and Ready-Mades,’ ‘Movie and Animation Design,’ and ‘Visual Communication.’ A full list of categories can be found at adesignaward.com/categories.

The A’ Design Prize, given to award winners, includes PR, publicity, and marketing services, in addition to an exclusive invitation to the glamorous Gala-Night and Award Ceremony at Como Lake, Italy, where award winners are presented their exclusive trophies, hardcover yearbook of best designs, and certificates.

A’ Design Award winner projects will be exhibited in three countries in 2015, a tour ending in Dublin, Ireland, to celebrate Dublin’s 2015 World Design Hub designation.

The screensaver feels like an icon of the past. Sure, we all use the standard Mac screensaver with the photos of majestic looking animals or vibrant flowers, floating on mobile like strings that dance across our displays. Yet the screensaver feels like it needs a reinvention, a sprucing up if you will.

Icelandic designer Siggi Eggertsson has you covered with his new project Saver Screensson. Using his own drawings he’s created a screensaver that layers upon itself, creating incredible designs that shift and transform as the time passes. I’ve been using it since Friday and I can’t imagine going back to any sort of standard screensaver.